


Talent Swap AU (but I'm a crackhead)

by kuscospoison



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Delinquent!Taka, Honors Student!Mondo, I really like the idea of delinquent Taka okay, M/M, They really switched yall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-10-27 07:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20756648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuscospoison/pseuds/kuscospoison
Summary: When Mondo Oowada came to Hope's Peak, he had intended to make good on his promise to his dying brother to clean up his act. But since when does anything go according to plan?





	1. Chapter 1

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy! We carefully scout students all over the country each year for new Ultimate Talent, and after careful observation and consideration, you were considered the Ultimate Honors Student!..._

Sounds corny as hell, huh? That’s exactly what Mondo had thought after first reading it, anyway. Ultimate Honors Student? Why, because ever since his brother died he’s been throwing everything into schoolwork? Because he had gotten accepted into another prestigious high school after being pushed into applying by one of his teachers? Or was this just a charity case?

No, that wasn’t it. The charity case was really the Lucky Student, right? So how could they say he was the Ultimate Honors Student? Mondo felt more like the Ultimate Pencil Pusher since Daiya died. But he had to do this, he had to make a better life for himself. He had promised Daiya. That night, as he lay dying, he had made him promise to be better. Create instead of destroy. Leaving the gang to Takemichi and going completely straitlaced had been hard, and busting his ass through middle school had been harder (especially since the first half of middle school was spent slowly joining the Diamonds).

He had changed in almost every way to keep his word. Gone was the pompadour, the long hair, the foul language. He adhered to dress code, followed the rules to a T and spent every night studying until his head hit the books from exhaustion. No one would ever accuse him of breaking a promise, especially one he made to Daiya. Even if it meant changing everything about himself and looking like a boring, average joe.

But this school promised success, didn’t it? So Mondo had no choice but to attend this academy, since it promised him that he would be able to fulfill the vow he had made to his broken and bleeding brother. His mother had cried like nobody’s business when he showed her the letter. It was clear that she was both proud of her remaining son and at the same time already feeling the beginning of empty nest syndrome. That feeling was even stronger because of the still-fresh loss that they had felt. But he had nonetheless packed his bags and was on his way to one of the most prestigious schools in the world.

As soon as he got to the academy, he felt intimidated by just how large and imposing the school was. It definitely lived up to its reputation. So without further ado, he heaved a nervous breath and walked in, following the signs to where his dorm was located and began unpacking his meager possessions.

Ever since Daiya’s death, Mondo didn’t really have much outside of school. He had thrown all of his energy into that promise, and in exchange his possessions were rather Spartan. Some clothes, some books, the banner from the Crazy Diamonds (even if he was straitlaced now, he would never forget the impact the gang had on his life). Because of this, he spent a lot less time than was allotted him for unpacking. Which meant he had free time. And because he had little to no hobbies, he had no way to spend that time. Lovely.

After about ten minutes of lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, Mondo rolled out of bed and went out into the hall. Maybe if he tried to introduce himself to his fellow students, these first-day jitters would lessen. He doubted it would work, but he was bored, so why not?

At least, that’s what he thought before immediately bumping into someone as he exited his room.

“Fuckin’, watch where you’re going!” The guy he bumped into practically snarled, and Mondo felt a bolt of anxiety. Sure, he had plenty of muscle still, and this guy looked a lot shorter than him, but he swore he would never get into another fight if it meant endangering his chances of making a better life for himself. Which meant if this guy tried to fight him…

And he definitely looked like he wanted to fight. Despite being taller than this guy, he lacked the energy and presence this boy had. The guy had piercings and tattoos galore, with a long leather jacket and black clothes underneath. His red eyes seemed to glow with hate and a desire for destruction.

Mondo gulped. Yeah, definitely didn’t wanna mess with this guy, whoever he was. “I, uh...sorry, dude. I kinda wasn’t lookin’ where I was goin’, so…”

“Damn right.” The scary-looking boy looked him over. “What’re you in for?” Why was he phrasing it like they were in juvie? Saying it like that gave Mondo unpleasant memories of his delinquent days.

“Uh, you mean my Talent or whatever? I’m the Ultimate Honors Student. Mondo Oowada, nice to meetcha.” He held out his hand to shake, trying to fix the bad impression he had already made.

The boy grinned wide at him. This guy seemed to go from zero to a hundred real fast, didn’t he? That grin made Mondo feel like the guy wanted to rip him apart. “I’m Kiyotaka Ishimaru, it’s funny that we ran into each other. I’m the Ultimate Delinquent.” He smirked and tilted his head, taking Mondo’s hand and shaking despite his...intimidating stare.

Mondo laughed nervously. “Haha, yeah. Definitely. I don’t really wanna be class representative or whatever, but they’ll probably vote for me to be anyway, considering...so...I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re gonna get on my bad side a lot, huh?” He frowned, feeling a little annoyed. He didn’t want to be a pushover, despite his Talent and the hoops he had jumped through to attain it. He cleared his throat. “For instance, those piercings are against dress code. And the tattoos. All of them. I’m not going to say anything about your lack of uniform, cuz it’s the first day and all, but the body modification and jewelry is a big no-no...but I guess you know that.”

Taka laughed and nodded. “You got that right. Just going to say this now so that you’re aware of exactly how I feel about you, fuck you. Go fuck yourself and your stupid and pointless dress code.” He grinned in an almost friendly manner and pat Mondo’s shoulder. “Oh yeah, and you can call me Taka for short if you want. I don’t really fucking care.” He turned and walked towards what was presumably his own room, whistling a little too cheerfully not to be suspicious.

Mondo could only gape at him like a fish. “Wh...hang on! You can’t just ignore me like that! Even if you are a delinquent, you don’t need to be a jerk!” He scowled at him. He knew exactly where this guy was coming from, considering he had been in his shoes before.

Taka froze and turned around, teeth bared, then before Mondo could react he lunged at him, pinning him against the wall. Once again Mondo had to marvel at the fact that he was being pinned by a guy smaller than him like this. Maybe he was getting soft, he would have to visit the gym later…

Before he could even finish that thought Taka had stabbed a switchblade into the wall next to Mondo’s head, replacing any rational thought with the icy feeling of adrenaline and his flight-or-fight response. “Wh-!”

“Shut the fuck up! If I stab a switchblade next to your goddamn head it means you shut your mouth and listen up!” Taka glared at him with those gleaming red eyes. “I don’t care if you’re some vanilla joe who needs to follow the rules. I know you’re going to give me some stupid infractions or whatever, and I don’t care. So I’m going to say something very important and you’d better listen close. Because if you don’t, I’m not going to miss with that blade next time, got it? Leave. Me. The fuck. ALONE.” He pulled the knife out of the wall and strutted away.

Mondo wheezed out the breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding, his entire body shaking. Sure, he had been in a gang and a delinquent, but...that was because he had nowhere else to go. And that whole delinquent persona had been just that. An act. One that a part of Mondo was happy to have abandoned. He didn’t need to pretend to be tough and uncaring. But this guy...he was different. This wasn’t an act. He really, truly, was pissed off at the world and everyone in it and didn’t care what destruction he caused. And the thought of crossing that kind of passion and hateful energy made Mondo’s blood run cold.

After a minute of trying to regain his breath and slow his thundering pulse, Mondo peeled himself off of the wall and looked at the slit in the wall Taka had created with his knife. A good student would have reported the use of weapons to a teacher, and the damage done, and then Taka would probably get suspended at the very least. Honors Student or no, Mondo wasn’t suicidal. If he breathed a word of this Taka would probably...get very violent with him. So Mondo simply pretended he didn’t see the slit and tried to forget that terrifying introduction as he shuffled back to his room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I finally updated. Lookit that. I listened to a lot of Metallica in thinking about how I wanted to write Ishimaru for this, so if you want to know my inspiration for him you can listen to The Unforgiven by Metallica. Or not. Enjoy my garbage that I have produced :).

It was only the second week of school and the delinquent had already caused at least a few thousand dollars’ worth of property damage and beaten up at least three other students. He really hadn’t been kidding when he had called himself the Ultimate Delinquent; not only was he chaotic and violent, he was efficient about it too. If he got into a fight, he often made sure to damage school property in the process (like the time he had broken a sink by bashing another student’s head against it, cracking both). Mondo had no idea what made this guy so pissed off at the world, but it must’ve been pretty bad for him to react like this. 

Whatever it was, Mondo was cursing it because it meant that he had to spend many an afternoon with the delinquent keeping an eye on him in detention (since that was a duty he had as the hall monitor, which he hadn’t wanted to be but the class had voted for him to have that position anyway). It was surreal to be on the disciplinary end of detention rather than the disciplined for once. But at least it gave Mondo a nice chunk of time to work on homework. 

Speaking of which, as he was doing his homework he flinched as a spitball hit his cheek and stuck to it. Mondo growled and wiped it off, looking up to find a snickering Ishimaru in the back of the classroom. What the fuck was his problem?!? Why was he shooting spitballs at Mondo?!? That was just so gross and needlessly rude?!? While Mondo’s mind shrieked with these outraged thoughts, he showed almost no outward exasperation and tried to ignore the delinquent. Daiya, think about what Daiya would have wanted. No more fights, no more trouble. Just focus on creating a better life rather than destroying what you already have. 

Mondo felt his resolve to not fight the smaller student weaken as he received more spitballs until the end of detention. Thank god, it’s finally over, Mondo had thought. But that relief was quickly stomped out when Ishimaru walked over to him rather than join the mass exodus of students leaving the classroom. 

“You really just take whatever the hell I dish out, huh?” He leaned on the desk, towards Mondo. Getting into his personal space enough that Mondo could smell the cologne the delinquent was wearing, along with the faint scent of leather from the long jacket he wore (despite dress code infractions, of which he had about two hundred by this point). Both scents made Mondo remember things he had promised to bury. Mondo could only stare up at the delinquent as he grinned down at Mondo, red eyes gleaming. 

Mondo sighed heavily, running a hand through his short dark brown hair. “I’m not gonna fight you if that’s what you want.” Ishimaru had seemed to take Mondo’s pacifism as a personal challenge, egging him on whatever chance he got. Why, Mondo didn’t really understand. He just knew it was annoying as hell and he sometimes fantasized about showing Ishimaru just how well he could actually fight. That he wasn’t just some pushover honors student. Then again, that would probably give away where he had really come from, and Mondo had been lucky so far that Ishimaru hadn’t recognized his last name and realized he was the former Crazy Diamonds’ leader’s little brother. 

Ishimaru tilted his head, smile fading and an annoyed look growing in his eyes. “Yeah, but I was being rude to you. You could at least gimme an infraction or another detention. It’s what I deserve, right?” What he...deserved? That was an odd way to look at it. 

Mondo shrugged. “I mean, yeah, but I don’t have to let it bug me like that. And you’ve got enough detentions and infractions already, I don’t think adding on another one is gonna do much.” 

Ishimaru’s grin melted away completely and he scowled. “But I broke the rules. You can’t just ignore the rules cuz of my bullshit. You’re the hall monitor. Ignoring my actions just cuz you’re a lazy coward is just being corrupt.” He glared down at him. 

The honors student couldn’t help but raise a brow. “Why do you care if I’m corrupt? Isn’t that a plus for you?” The more he interacted with this guy, the more questions were raised about him.

Ishimaru shook his head. “I enjoy a lot of violence and destruction, but corruption is one thing I don’t fucking tolerate, you got it? Gimme detention.” 

“I’m not giving you detention. Not for something as dumb and childish as shooting spitballs.” Mondo began packing his homework away. 

With a growl Ishimaru flipped his desk and kicked Mondo out of his chair. Mondo fell to his knees with a huff, eyes wide. What the hell was his problem? “Now will you do it? I kicked you. That earns me a suspension at least, right?”

Instead of agreeing with Ishimaru, he simply got up, flipped his desk back in place, and continued to pack up his stuff. He wasn’t even going to give the other student the satisfaction of a verbal response. He was tired, annoyed, and he just wanted to go grab dinner from the cafeteria and go back to his room to continue studying. 

As he was getting up to leave Ishimaru grabbed his shirt and slammed him against the wall, red eyes wild with a rage that Mondo had recognized as the I’m-going-to-beat-the-shit-out-of-someone face. “GIMME DETENTION YOU FUCKWAD!” He roared right in Mondo’s face. 

Mondo scowled. “Let go of me, I don’t wanna deal with this shit right now. I’m not gonna fight you, I’m not gonna discipline you. I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with being disciplined, but I’m not gonna give you that cuz it’s obvious you’re doing it for attention or as a cry for help.” He pried Ishimaru’s hands off of him. He wasn’t scared of the delinquent, not anymore. Despite his chaos and rage, after a few weeks with the guy Mondo could tell that Ishimaru was doing all this because of some emotional baggage. “I know where you’re coming from, okay? I used to...I used to be a bad kid too.”

Ishimaru stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, looking shocked and confused. Then his eyes narrowed into red slits. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.” He turned to try and leave.

Before Mondo could think about it, he was following the delinquent. Why was he following the delinquent? Was it because he had once been a delinquent himself? “Then tell me. Why do you want a detention? Why are you so angry that I’m letting you go for once?”

The delinquent paused, back stiffened. “Why do you care?”

Mondo looked down, biting his lip. “I guess cuz I’m tired of us butting heads like this, and...I guess I kinda empathize with you cuz of my own shit.” Mondo hadn’t really realized he had swore, but he was tired and it was after school hours so when he did realize it he let it go. Conditioning himself to avoid foul language had been hard enough, making himself do it all the time was just too exhausting.

“Oh yeah? What shit?” Ishimaru scowled and tilted his head, looking curious.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Mondo mumbled.

“Well I don’t want to talk about my shit either.”

“Guess we’ve reached an impasse.”

Ishimaru raised a brow. “Not necessarily. We could always do a challenge. Whoever says uncle first has to tell the other person about their tragic backstory or whatever bullshit.”

Mondo raised a brow back at him. “Challenge? What kinda challenge? I’m not fighting you if that’s what you’re after.”

Ishimaru shook his head. “No not that, I was thinking maybe something endurance related. Like...we could see who cracks first in the sauna.” He smirked at him. 

Mondo thought for a moment. It wasn’t violent, didn’t break any rules, and seemed like a fair enough challenge. Why Ishimaru picked the sauna of all places Mondo didn’t understand, but it worked. “Yeah, okay.”

Ishimaru grinned and grabbed his wrist, hauling him to the sauna. 

Mondo grunted in surprise. “Now? I thought we’d wait til later.”

“You piqued my curiosity and I want to do it now, so we’re doing it now.” 

Despite his strength, Mondo allowed himself to be dragged to the sauna. Sure, he could refuse if he wanted to. But that would only bring more ridicule from the delinquent upon him. So he promised himself that he would continue his studying after he won this stupid competition and braced himself for what was going to come of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? Crazy. But this one is longer than usual because it's very dialogue-heavy and also everything wasn't really seperable into two chapters.

Mondo was quickly regretting his agreement with Ishimaru. It was fucking hot in this sauna, which is what he should have expected, but....he didn’t realize it would be this hot! He was sweating buckets after the first hour, his mouth feeling bone dry and he was panting like a dog. Halfway through the first hour he had finally given in and taken off his uniform jacket and tie, tossing them to the floor rather than lovingly folding them like he usually did. 

It seemed that Ishimaru wasn’t faring much better, in fact he seemed to be doing worse. By the time they were halfway through the first hour the delinquent had shed all his clothes in favor of a towel wrapped around his waist. Mondo wasn’t surprised to see he had actual muscles under the long jacket and baggie clothing, since he had seen the strength behind the other student’s blows on more than enough occasions. 

He smirked at the delinquent. “Lookin’ like a tomato, can’t wait to hear your tragic backstory as you called it.” 

Ishimaru grit his teeth. “F-fuck you man. I was j-just being sarcastic. And I’m doing just f-fine! F-fuck off!” Mondo could only chuckle weakly at his snappy response, already relishing his victory. There was no way the other student was going to last another hour.

After a few minutes of silence Mondo couldn’t help but indulge his impulse to tease the delinquent some more. “You can say uncle any minute now dude.” 

“Sh-shut up! I can do this all night!”

“Y-your face says otherwise. You look like you’re g-gonna explode.” 

“My f-face is naturally like this you dick!” 

“I would b-beg to differ, it’s only like that when you’re p-pissed.” 

Ishimaru growled at him and Mondo couldn’t help but feel smug; he was totally going to win this. He couldn’t help but glance over at the delinquent and his eyes were immediately drawn to something...surprising. 

“You seriously have your nipples pierced?” Mondo says, eyes wide in surprise as he chuckled.

Ishimaru shot him another glare. “It was a dare, okay?” In sudden modesty he covered his chest, scowling at Mondo and biting at one of his snakebite piercings nervously. If his face wasn’t tomato red right now Mondo could have guessed he would be blushing. 

Mondo only grinned wider, enjoying this payback after all the teasing and agitating of the past two weeks. “Oh yeah? Are all those crazy tattoos all over you dares too?” Mondo had a few tattoos of his own, admittedly. Although luckily for him they were easy to hide (hence why he still hadn’t shed any more clothing despite the extreme heat).

“No. Those were all just because I wanted to. They’re a massive fuck you to everyone who judged and hated me. Also to piss off my dad.” So Ishimaru had a vengeful streak, huh? Interesting, perhaps that was a clue as to why he acted the way he did. 

“Well, I mean, you do break the law and act out a lot. That tends to piss people off.” 

Ishimaru shot him an annoyed look. “That was in response to the hatred and judgement too.” He looked down. “It’s...complicated.”

Now Mondo really was intrigued. “Damn, now I really wanna win this competition to see what this vendetta you’ve got is all about.” He smirked. 

“We’ll see who wins. You said you used to be a bad kid, plus your last name sounds really familiar…” He stared at Mondo with narrowed eyes and Mondo couldn’t help but look away, feeling nervous that Ishimaru actually had recognized his last name (or had at least begun to). “I wanna know.” 

There was a long stretch of silence after that, both students focused on winning their “competition.” Despite the sweat making his clothing stick to his skin, Mondo refused to reveal just how much of a bad kid he used to be. This was a public place, after all, and anyone could walk in. Like hell he’d fuck everything up after everything. The occasional glance in Ishimaru’s direction told him that the red face really wasn’t a sign that he was close to losing, since the guy was still going strong. The second hour had come and passed and they were still both sitting. Mondo was starting to get hungry and he was worried he wouldn’t have enough time to get his studying done and get a good night’s rest. On the one hand, he could attempt to aggravate the delinquent some more, but on the other hand, if he talked to him that would only keep him alert and help him win if anything. Then again, talking could tire the other boy out more, but then Mondo would be tiring himself out in the process. 

“So if you used to be a bad kid, how could you end up being the Ultimate Honors Student? Sounds like bullshit to me.” Ishimaru mumbled, scowling at him. 

Mondo shrugged. “I worked my ass off after...I almost got into an accident.” That wasn’t a total lie. And it was a lot easier to say than “after I accidentally killed my brother.” 

Ishimaru raised a brow. “What accident? And you’re sure you mean bad kid like my level right? Like, actually breaking the law?” 

Mondo rolled his eyes. If only he knew…”Yes, I mean like you. You want proof that I used to break the law on a near daily basis?”

“Yes please.” Ishimaru stared at him with an expectant frown.

“I have proof, but you’ll need to win the competition to get it.” Mondo smirked at him. 

Ishimaru bit at his snakebite piercing again, in deep thought this time rather than because of nerves. “C’mon...this is dumb. Can’t you just tell me?”

Mondo grinned. Bingo. The delinquent’s curiosity was getting the better of him, and now Mondo was going to win. Or, at least, get out of this so he could go on with his life. “Yeah, but you were the one that insisted on this competition.”

“You’re the one that refused to tell me how you were a bad kid before!” He had him there. Mondo hadn’t really wanted to tell people about his past, but…

“What if we just agreed to tell each other? I’ll tell you about me, you tell me about you and we skip this competition? It’s hot in here and we’re both tired. Call it a draw.”

Ishimaru grit his teeth, seeming to weigh his options. He seemed to be the competitive type, so it was obvious that the idea of a tie wasn’t appealing. And Mondo probably would have been the same if he wasn’t exhausted and his competitive edge had worn away after years of devoting all his time to schoolwork. “Fine. But don’t tell anyone about this or my...piercings or else I’ll throw you into a fucking dumpster.” He glared at him and stood up to go get dressed.

Mondo couldn’t help but snicker. “Sure thing, but I doubt you could throw me into a dumpster.” 

That earned him a heated glare. “You really want to test it, poindexter bitch?” 

Mondo shook his head and laughed, grabbing his jacket and tie and putting them back on. He couldn’t help but realize that what had been heated insults and hateful arguments between them was now evolving into playful banter. It was...nice. A part of him hoped it stayed that way. 

As they left the sauna, Mondo finally decided to drop a big hint. “I’m sure you’ve heard of Daiya Oowada, right?”

Ishimaru was adjusting his jacket as they walked out and paused. “Sounds familiar...Wasn’t he a biker gang leader or something?” He frowned and thought. “The...the Crazy Diamonds right?” 

Mondo nodded, waiting for the dots to connect. 

Ishimaru’s eyes went wide. “Your last name. Were you related to him?” 

Mondo looked down, feeling his stomach clench and his heart sink. “He was my brother.” He mumbled as he began walking to the cafeteria. He ignored the delinquents questions until he had gotten his food (and once Ishimaru realized Mondo wasn’t going to say any more about it he got his own dinner). He then began walking back to his room, and sure enough Ishimaru followed close behind, obviously intrigued now. 

Mondo shut his dorm room door, his body feeling heavy and his throat feeling like he had swallowed gravel. He looked over and Ishimaru was eyeing up the Crazy Diamonds banner he had hung up. “I’ll be damned, you really are related to Daiya Oowada.” Ishimaru mumbled.

“Yeah. He...died a few years ago in an accident.” Mondo can’t seem to look up from his shoes, those wounds from his guilt being reopened after ignoring them for so long. 

“Is that the accident you said about? That made you into a nerd?” 

Mondo nodded. “Yeah. I held Daiya as he lay dying on the road, and he...he told me to be better. To create instead of destroy. So I started working my ass off to try and get into a better school so I could get into college and make my life better. I didn’t even try to get into Hope’s Peak. It just...happened.” He shrugged. What went unsaid was that he didn’t understand how it happened, and that he didn’t feel that he deserved the title of Ultimate Honors Student. But he wouldn’t admit that to Ishimaru.

Ishimaru sat on Mondo’s bed (without permission) and seemed to think for a moment. “Wow. That’s...that fucking sucks.” 

Mondo shrugged and sat next to Ishimaru on the bed. “That’s kinda why I don’t like to talk about it. Also if people found out I used to be a bosozoku it’d ruin my chances of getting into a good college, y’know?”

“Right, right. Your secret’s safe with me. I might be a criminal and take pleasure in destruction, but I keep secrets, I promise you.” Ishimaru gently rubbed his back as if to reassure the honors student. He was...being nice. Could he do that? Was he just saying this in order to lull Mondo into complacency? Was he going to humiliate him later? Even so, Mondo was too tired to put up much of a fight. After years of doing nothing but studying and no socialization or friendship, he would take what he could get. 

After a moment of enjoying the comfort from such an unlikely source, Mondo looked over at the delinquent. “So what about you? How’d you end up on the wrong side of the tracks?” 

Ishimaru sighed and looked down. “It’s a long story. Have you ever heard of Toranosuke Ishimaru?” 

“Nope.” Mondo shook his head. 

Ishimaru nodded. “He was my grandfather, and was briefly prime minister of Japan. He was removed from office when he got caught up in a political scandal. The bastard put my family so far in debt that we’re still paying things off. My father works all the time and we’re on the brink of poverty.”

“I thought you wanted to piss your dad off?” Mondo frowned.

“I’m getting to that, lemme talk.” Ishimaru swatted at Mondo’s shoulder without any malice. “Anyway, there are people who still remember what happened with my grandfather, and they’re usually assholes to me and my father.”

“What about your mom?” 

“She’s dead. She died when I was a kid.” Ishimaru scowled at him. “Will you shut the fuck up and stop interrupting me? You’re being super rude.” 

“Says the Ultimate Delinquent.” 

“I’m serious, let me finish.” Ishimaru poked his stomach, which just made Mondo yelp in laughter. He felt bad for laughing, but he was ticklish there.

“Okay okay, I’m sorry about your mom. I won’t ask any more questions.” Mondo smiled and moved to sit cross-legged on his bed. 

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. I used to just take all the comments and looks. A lot of teachers would be overly harsh with me or say things to me. Some kids bullied me for it too, cuz they heard shit from their parents. I pretended like it didn’t affect me, but it did. My dad would always be like ‘prove them wrong Kiyotaka’ and ‘be the bigger person Kiyotaka.’” He snorted. “Fucking bullshit if you ask me. So it just built up and I felt worse and worse until one day I fucking snapped.” Ishimaru laid back on the bed and stretched, as if to draw out the climax of his tale.

Mondo, taken by it, leaned over him. “What did you do?” He breathed to the smaller boy. 

Ishimaru smirked under him. “I bit off my elementary school teacher’s ear.” 

What?!? Mondo’s eyes went cartoonishly wide. “You did what now?” 

“Served him fucking right for being such a bitch to a ten year old. Adults who are cruel to children don’t deserve ears.” Ishimaru grinned up at Mondo, who was still trying to process that Ishimaru would do something so incredibly violent.

“Holy shit…” He finally mumbled. 

“Your face is hilarious.” Ishimaru snickered. “But yeah, it got me like a year of juvie, which turned into two years cuz I was always getting into fights and shit while I was there. They all deserved what they got though.” A hard and angry look came over the delinquent. “I don’t hurt innocent people. Just the fuckwads that deserve it. But I guess I got into enough fights and stopped giving a shit about school enough that Hope’s Peak decided I was the Ultimate Delinquent. Not that I actually give a fuck. Honestly I’ve been doing shit just to see how hard I can push before I get expelled.” Ishimaru hummed. “Apparently I can do a lot before getting expelled.” He smirked.

Mondo nodded in agreement, thinking back on all of the stunts the delinquent had pulled over the course of two weeks. “Definitely. That’s...that’s so dumb that people judged you just because of what your grandfather did. It’s not fair.” He frowned. 

“Exactly. But it happens anyway. Cuz people fucking suck. So in case you were wondering how I get into so many fights all the time, that’s why. And that’s why I expect you and the teachers to give me infractions and detentions and whatever else. Because I deserve it for being violent, just like the kids who I beat up deserve what they get.” Ishimaru hummed and rested his hands under his head, looking calmly up at the ceiling. “At least then when people hate me, it makes sense. They hate me for what I do, rather than what my asshole grandfather did.” 

“That’s depressing.” Mondo mumbled. 

Ishimaru shrugged. “That’s life.” 

Mondo scowled. “You don’t think I don’t know that? Like I said, I watched my brother die in the middle of the fucking road after we had a race that I asked to have because--” He stopped, because that meant admitting to Ishimaru what really happened. 

“Because…?” Ishimaru raised a brow. 

Fuck, fuck, Mondo was in trouble now. He had to tell the truth now, he couldn’t just lie to the delinquent, not after the guy was so honest and open about his own life. Then he’d see what a monster Mondo really was, that this whole goody two-shoes act was a penance rather than a choice. It wasn’t the first time he was cursing his lack of filter when it came to talking. 

Mondo jumped when he felt a hand rubbing his back again. “Dude, relax. You’re shaking right now. I won’t judge you, okay? I just told you I bit off someone’s ear. I know I come off as being all judgemental and condemning people but...you’re different, okay? I owe you one, after I did all that shit earlier and you didn’t do anything.” 

Mondo gulped and looked over at him. “Just...I’ll understand if you go back to hating my guts after this.” I hate my own guts for this, he thought but didn’t say. “What happened that night...I always felt like I was second best to my brother. He was tough, and a great leader, and...he was always protecting me.” He swallowed hard. “Whether it was in a bar fight, from the cops, or from our drunk of a dad--he died in an armed robbery gone wrong, don’t worry about it-- he always protected me.” He hugged himself, trying to ignore the way his stomach twisted with guilt. “He was retiring from the Diamonds, and I was gonna take his place eventually. I didn’t, I didn’t want people to doubt me for not being as strong or cool as Daiya. So I challenged him to a race, figured I’d prove myself, y’know? So I was really reckless the whole race, and…” He was almost hyperventilating now. “It was my fault.” He barely whispered out before he was running to his bathroom. 

It was the first time he had said those words out loud to another person, and it had resulted in Mondo somehow crying and throwing up at the same time. At least he had made it to the bathroom in time. Those feelings of guilt and self-hatred had festered in him for so long, and they had been all he had had while he had worked himself to the bone to fulfill Daiya’s promise. So it was no wonder that when he finally confessed his stomach had decided to stage a coup and make him puke. 

He heard a knock on the door and after he had wiped his mouth, flushed the toilet and tried to regain some semblance of composure he opened the door. At least he didn’t wear eyeliner anymore, otherwise he really would have looked like a mess. “I’m sorry, that was really gross, I--”

Before he could say anything else Ishimaru had pulled him into a hug. “You didn’t know that would happen, dude. It wasn’t your fault.” 

“But--” 

“No. Shut the fuck up.” Ishimaru hugged him a little tighter and Mondo could only sniffle and accept the sudden and unexpected affection. “And don’t give me that bullshit about how we’re both dudes and it’s weird I’m hugging you. Accept my affection you dumb bitch.” 

“O-okay…” Mondo mumbled. 

Ishimaru--no, maybe it was okay to think of him as Taka now--pulled back. “I’m going to go get you a glass of water and you’re going to wash your face, okay? And then we’re going to hang out and shit. Is that cool with you?” 

“I...I guess? I should do my homework though.” 

Taka glared at him. “I will fucking set your homework on fire if you touch it tonight.” Mondo knew for certain that the shorter boy was not kidding. At all. So he could only dumbly nod in response as Taka left to get the water. As Mondo washed his face of the tears he had felt so ashamed of he couldn’t help but realize that he had maybe made a new friend.


End file.
